Vitamin D and various vitamin D analogs have been investigated in the past for their therapeutic effects. The following references are representative.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0059641 published Mar. 17, 2005.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,882 issued Aug. 18, 1988.
Feldman, Editorial/Mini-Review: Vitamin D and Prostate Cancer, Endocrinology 141: 5-9 (2005).
Barreto et al., 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3, the Prohormone of 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3, Inhibits the proliferation of Primary Prostatic Epithelial Cells, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 9: 265-70 (2000).
Beer and Myrthue, Calcitriol in cancer treatment: From the lab to the clinic, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics: 373-81 (2004).
Vijayakumar et al., Clinical trials involving vitamin D analogs in prostate cancer, Cancer J 11: 362-73 (2005).